Stash of old dynamite in shed is frozen, can't be moved (Whoa!)

Janeville Gazette ^ | 2.20.04

[mhking]

PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. -- A stash of decaying dynamite discovered in a storage shed is frozen and can't be safely moved until the spring thaw, authorities say.

Explosives experts said Wednesday that the 500 to 700 pounds of dynamite posed no immediate danger to nearby residents and businesses - unless someone tampers with it.

The information didn't pacify all the residents and business owners within 1,250 feet of the shed who learned more about the situation at a meeting with officials Wednesday.

"I'm scared and I'm angry," said Shirley Cipra, who lives about 500 feet from the shed. "We've been here all these years. I get sick to my stomach when I think how many times my whole family has been there in danger."

The state Transportation Department bought the shed as part of a highway widening project before state workers found the dynamite in October.

Crawford County Sheriff Bob Ostrander said the dynamite has been stored in the shed for more than 20 years and is thought to have belonged to the owner of a construction company that used it for quarry blasting.

The man died in the early 1980s and the company is no longer in business.

Local law enforcement officials did not learn about the explosives until last week. Joe Farmer, a DOT real estate supervisor, blamed the delay in informing them on an internal communication error in his agency.

If the dynamite were to be ignited, the blast would affect a radius of about 1,250 feet, said Robert Donnelly, an explosives expert from Virginia brought in by the state to oversee the dynamite's removal.

Many homes and about 35 businesses, including hotels and a grocery store, are in the area.

However, the dynamite cannot be safely removed until spring because it needs to thaw, said Donnelly, director of UXB International Inc. Crystals and ice that have formed on the old dynamite could ignite it at the slightest touch.

In the spring, the dynamite will be coated with a special fluid to diminish its volatility, and it will then be removed row by row. The process could take four to 10 days, Donnelly said.

People may have to be temporarily evacuated at that time, though improvements to a sand berm constructed on Tuesday could make that unnecessary, the sheriff said.

Other security measures also have been taken, including 24-hour police surveillance of the shed.

"We don't want someone coming in and tampering with it," Ostrander said. "We're not going to allow it."

The DOT has erected a chain-link fence to secure the building.

Police Chief Mike King said people shouldn't worry.

"It's not going to go off just sitting there in that building," King said. "It's as safe as it's been in 25 years" with the sand berm and extra security.

[mhking]

No relation.

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Billthedrill]

They don't have to wait until spring to thaw it out - a quick application of a blowtorch would work just fine. Why those guys don't put a smart guy like me in charge of this stuff I just don't know...

[Uncle George]

Yes burn it. I have burned cases of it, all it does is burn like sawdust.

[CindyDawg]

I have one of those counter racks that thaws really good. If I had to wait til spring we wouldn't eat around here:')

[Bogey78O]

Just use a space heater ;)

[commish]

Good thing Wisconsin doesn't have earthquakes ;-)

[spunkets]

" on an internal communication error in his agency."

CRS.

[JZoback]

Calling the RonCo guy!!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Old dynamite grows "hair," if its not used within a reasonable time. We dropped the stuff down the ANFO drill holes to get rid of it.

[Young Werther]

George Foreman was on Sean Hannity's radio yesterday while Sean was book signing in Dallas, ( I went to the Anatole in Dallas but it was swamped! One of his handlers says he signs 600 books per hour!).

Maybe a Forman Grill could be used to "cook" the mess!

[Young Werther]

George Foreman was on Sean Hannity's radio yesterday while Sean was book signing in Dallas, ( I went to the Anatole in Dallas but it was swamped! One of his handlers says he signs 600 books per hour!).

Maybe a Forman Grill could be used to "cook" the mess!

[GeronL]

Have they named the shed after Howard Dean yet??

[Young Werther]

George Foreman was on Sean Hannity's radio yesterday while Sean was book signing in Dallas, ( I went to the Anatole in Dallas but it was swamped! One of his handlers says he signs 600 books per hour!).

Maybe a Forman Grill could be used to "cook" the mess!

[Billthedrill]

Eric's right. The old stuff sweats nitroglycerine. Very nasty.

If I were going to take a blowtorch to this stuff, I'd hold it all the way at arm's length... ;-)

[U S Army EOD]

I would sure like to watch you do that from about two thousand feet away. I need to get a telephoto lens for my camera because I have an idea, I might get some neat pictures.

[ExSoldier]

C-4 burns hot enough to heat enough C-Rats to feed a platoon. Just don't stamp on it to put it out! Notice I said C-Rats, not MREs. LOL

[Cold Heart]

I remember reading a story in grammer school (awhile back)about a company hauling dynamite on a horse drawn wagon.
It was winter and the thinking at the time was that it was dangerous to let the dynamite get cold (freeze) so they had hot bricks under the tarp covered boxes of dynamite. The story went that the teamster got stuck in the snow and the dynamite did freeze. They found out that the dynamite was more difficult to ignite. That was new dynamite.

As dynamite ages, the nitroglycerin interspersed in the clay coagulates and weeps out, then becomes very dangerous. 25 years is old. I guess cold isn't good in old stuff.

Not an expert but that is what I remember.

[blackdog]

Most of Wisconsin was old growth forest until the 1850's. They clearcut the lower 2/3 of the state of trees, and blasted the stumps by the millions. More dynamite was used to clear for farmland than all munitions in both world wars.

All the hardwoods, some as old as a few hundred years were floated to mills all along the great lakes.

In the context of dynamite in Wisconsin, this find ain't a nothin but a firecracker.

[blackdog]

I know that glycerin mixed with bird crap and fruit loops makes some mighty powerful explosives. We did it in high school chemistry club.(when it was still PC to learn stuff)

The biggest explosion though was a dust explosion we created under a barrell, using graphite.